About Jenny & Julie

Jenny Seed Reis

Jenny Seed Reis

Founder

Julie Belladonna

Julie Belladonna

Founder

Our Story

Jenny Seed Reis founded Better Than The Gift after a neighbor noticed her creative doodles paired with quirky messages and encouraged her to produce her first line of wrapping paper. With paper in hand, Jenny attended a few craft fairs, received overwhelmingly positive feedback, and she was on her way. Shortly thereafter, Jenny partnered with her college friend, Julie Belladonna, who brought her executive functioning skills to Jenny's creative chaos.

Our first line of wrapping paper launched in 2024 and one year later we expanded into greeting cards, stickers, and gift bags. Jenny started with wrapping paper because she is terrible at giving gifts. Her sisters would complain every year about her gifts, and finally—after decades (!) she realized that their expectations weren't properly set. So, she set them herself. After Jenny designed our Lower Your Expectations wrapping paper sheets, she designed This is Not a Book. She was inspired by René Magritte's The Treachery of Images. His quote: "Everything we see hides another thing; we always wish to see what is hidden by what we see." And, to this point, no matter how you wrap it, we all know it's a book.

What we realized quickly is that our wrapping paper isn't just packaging—it's communication. It sets a tone. It tells a story before the gift is even opened. And it works! Jenny's sisters stopped focusing on their gifts and started focusing on the wrapping paper…just like she planned. Today, many others pause to read the fine print on our paper, which prolongs the gift-giving experience and creates more enduring connections.

All of our designs come from lived experience, and it turns out that when life gets hard, the truth gets louder. Between the two of us we have experienced children with genetic disorders, epilepsy, parents with Alzheimer's, tackled cancer and juggled anxiety, ADHD, cross-country moves and many of the same life challenges as our customers. We know we are not alone. Our experiences change how we see the world—and how we communicate. One of our cards looks like a simple smiley face. But when you look closer, it says, "You don't have to smile." We believe it is always ok to feel.

Our Mission

At Better Than The Gift, we believe gifting builds human connections. Exchanging a gift can spark conversation, strengthen relationships, and—true to our motto—Do Good. Because when the card and wrapping paper say it all… the gift almost doesn't matter.

Our wrapping paper is 100% compostable, and all our stationery products are produced with recycled inputs. We donate a portion of our profits to causes near to our hearts including the special needs community, cancer research and Alzheimer's disease.

In lieu of complete sentences and proper punctuation, here are some fun facts about us:

JENNY

  1. I live in Massachusetts with my husband, 2 sons, 1 cat, 6 hens, and 1 rooster named Sofia. We used to have 7 hens but one died. She is now on our bookshelf in a nice urn.
  2. I'm still waiting to become a child prodigy.
  3. I have ADHD.
  4. I think sunrises are depressing and sunsets are beautiful. I come from a long line of night owls and I'm pretty sure my ancestors were an elite group of night watchmen that patrolled the streets of medieval London.
  5. I care/worry about the environment and research Grolar (aka Pizzly) Bears on really warm winter days.
  6. When leaving a voicemail, I will hit the * button at least 4 times in order to delete and rerecord and if the * button doesn't work then I press # and/or 1 frantically until I just hang up.
  7. I like to take naps when I have important things to do.
  8. I like to ski and I used to ski race.
  9. I believe in equality and science.
  10. I celebrate neurodiversity.
  11. The last thing I ate was a spoonful of Nutella.
  12. I make balloon animals and want to make miming cool again.
  13. Julie and I met in college.
  14. Julie is AWESOME.

JULIE

  1. I live in Florida with my husband and 3 children.
  2. We have no pets, but our children would really like a dog.
  3. I love nature and was thrilled to escape a very polluted city and move to a very beachy town.
  4. I (fairly) recently left a long career on Wall Street.
  5. I turned off my LinkedIn notifications and will probably never turn them back on.
  6. I like to clean out closets.
  7. I worry when I am not busy.
  8. I believe in the power of positive thinking.
  9. I believe problems should be faced head-on.
  10. A quick, afternoon nap (and a matcha!) can do wonders for my disposition.
  11. We have a peace corner in our living room that hosts a giant stuffed panda.
  12. I love trees, climbing mountains and looking out on the world.
  13. I love Jenny's wrapping paper designs.
  14. Jenny is AWESOME.

Contact us at info@betterthanthegift.com